EXPLORING THE DEPTHS OF OURSELVES THROUGH CREATIVE PRACTICE

I have always dreamt of having a big, warm, cozy studio space that I could invite others into for the sole purpose of creating and communing. I wanted a room full of art supplies, a safe space with great light, good smells and nice music. A place where clients could come in, set down their heavy burdens and create. A place for laughter, sadness, sharing and quiet. A sacred space where you can access the part of yourself that wants to come alive. The part of your brain, your psyche and your spirit that has been tucked away.

Inside each one of us lives a wellspring of fertile, profoundly creative potential. To function effectively within our academic institutions and beyond, most of us had to dial that aspect of ourselves way down. While there is nothing wrong with pragmatism or linear thinking, the left-brain capacities without the help of our right-brains (and our open hearts) is limited. I created Innerland because I believe that communion with these vital aspects of ourselves is regenerative and life-giving. When we cut ourselves off from our inner creative impulses, we allow an aspect of who we are to atrophy. When we re-engage this part of ourselves, we come alive again. We reconnect with our intuition, our ability to transcend obstacles and discover a more robust version of ourselves.

Everyone has creative proclivities. It's just a matter of giving oneself the space and freedom to explore. I invite you to investigate through an extensive array of media what makes you come alive. I can teach and facilitate almost any process, from painting (acrylic, oil, watercolor) to collage, drawing, sculpture to printmaking.

Whether you haven't picked up a drawing pencil since 3rd grade or you're proficient in many modalities is arbitrary. What matters is whether you can allow yourself to show up and give voice to that 3rd grader. Whether your goal is to gain mastery with one medium or experiment aimlessly to your heart's content is also irrelevant. What matters is whether you can give yourself the space to let go of what you "know" to create room for what "wants to be known".

The creative process, once engaged, is a force unto itself. It shakes loose old, stuck material. It opens us up to things we know we need to look at but can't quite get there on our own. It's cathartic and powerful. It reveals to us a grace and beauty that we didn't know we had the ability to connect to, let alone create. A beauty that comes from within but also links us to something bigger than ourselves.

Painting by Betsy Walton

I bring the materials and the space to the table and the client brings themselves. Your whole, perfectly broken self. The departure point into the process will be you. Your burning questions, your most outrageous fears and hopes and dreams. You will allow your creative process to churn these questions. To sift and calibrate, make a mess, refile and alchemically burn through the aching holes and unanswered pleas.

MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE

What you walk away with will be the artifacts of your process. It might be a series of paintings, or a pile of collages. It could be a sculpture you decided to burn in your backyard or toss into the sea. Perhaps you will have generated a brilliant proposal and you're in the process of applying for grants to get it funded. These are the measurable take-aways.

The immeasurable take-aways are as vast and variable as we are but I can give you a few clues. When we allow ourselves to create and give voice to the voiceless within, it opens us up. Truth spills out. We realize we have a lot to say. We also recognize that we now have a process that we can go to time and time again with our burning questions, our angst and our grief. When we externalize our pain and our joy, we can let it go. We can celebrate it and send it on it's way. We can be clearer and more open vessels, ready for what's next.